Rebound
by CausticRaven
Summary: Because when you fall, you can only go back up. It takes a while, and you may need the help of someone close to you, but you'll always find a way up. P3, Minato/Fuuka


"Hey everyone, I'm…home?" Minato paused his greeting when he took a look into the dorm's lounge and found it uncommonly empty. An odd occurrence- where was everyone?

He then found his answer in the sounds of muffled speaking coming up from the fourth floor of the dorm. He frowned- if they were having any kind of meeting, he wasn't made aware.

He put that thought aside though, as he heard the sound of his stomach growl. Food was _probably_ the best idea he could do right now, so he walked over to the fridge and opened it.

"Ugh." He growled as he saw very little, if anything, residing in the appliance. "Mental note- set aside some of the yen we find in Tartarus for a grocery budget- this is kind of ridiculous." Given that there was so little food residing in the dorm, Minato closed the door and took a look at his wallet and opened it.

Shit. **Now **he was caught between a rock and a hard place. How did he spend almost all of that money in a week?

…Oh right. Persona fusing. Minato scratched his head- his options were getting more and more limited as time went on.

For no particular reason, he opened up the fridge again. He found the exact same stuff, or lack of stuff as it were, inside. His eyes locked on a pink box that looked like it was part of a bento.

"_Score!"_ He thought to himself. _"Until we can go to Tartarus and grab more funds, this is the best I can get."_ He placed the box down on the counter nearby him and he grabbed a metal fork. He pulled up a seat behind the counter and opened the bento box.

He did his best to ignore the off smell that wafted outwards from it, and shovelled a forkful into his mouth.

…In all honesty, that was probably the worst decision he could've done.

He placed the fork down and closed his eyes. This bento… was horrible. He tried to find another way to put it, but his words has successfully failed him.

And yet… he swallowed it. Somehow, he managed to put the horrible food down without a drink to help him.

"…_Dammit. There goes that plan." _He pursed his lips and then threw the offending food into the trashcan. Left with no other choice, he shoved his hands into his pockets and walked upstairs.

* * *

When Minato got up to the fourth floor, the muffled voices he was hearing all before had now become louder and clearer. He frowned- he had heard the yelling coming up the stairs, but now it was clear enough for him to make out actual words.

He was able to recognize the voices- there was Yukari, Junpei, Akihiko, Mitsuru… then where was Fuuka? He paused his music and opened the door to the command room.

He poked his head in, and almost regretted it instantly. Yukari and Junpei were standing and arguing about something stupid, as were Mitsuru and Akihiko. Everyone was in their summer uniforms, so Minato had no clue how long this had been going on for.

As it turns out, Fuuka was also in the room, but she was sitting on the couch, just watching the events unfold before her eyes and sighing. Their eyes met, and Fuuka got up from her spot and snuck over to where he was. It seemed pretty easy, considering both sets of arguments looked pretty heated and absorbed in their own arguing.

"Oh, thank goodness!" She exclaimed as the door to the command room closed behind them. "I thought I would never get away from all that arguing!" Minato rose an eyebrow as the two of them moved towards the miniature lounge set up on the fourth floor that was made up of chairs and a small table.

"…So, what exactly happened?" Minato asked, curious. "I get home and find no one in the lounge, and I come up here and everyone's just shouting…"

"Oh, I guess you have been away all evening." Fuuka sighed and placed her hands in her lap. "Well, from what I can remember, Junpei-san and Yukari-chan were talking normally, and then they got into a fight about some comment Junpei said. Then Mitsuru-senpai came up and tried to break up their argument, but Akihiko-senpai came up also, and he seemed mad for some reason." She paused to take a breath. "Mitsuru-senpai got angry at him, and then they started to argue, and then you got here."

Minato sighed. Yukari and Junpei arguing over something stupid, he had no problem believing. Akihiko and Mitsuru, on the other hand…

If they were arguing over something as heated as they were, it must've been pretty serious.

"…Wow. I picked the wrong day to stay out, I guess." The two of them chuckled and she smiled at him.

"Oh, right! How was your day today, Minato-kun?" She asked. Usually, if he were to come home and she was in the lounge, she would be asking him that same question. He liked it when she asked him that, because it felt nice to have someone care about your outcome.

"It was kind of quiet, actually. More of the same, which I can enjoy…" He paused, and then gestured to the door. "All things considered, really. What about yourself?" He asked without hesitating.

"Yeah, it was kind of uneventful." She smiled at him, but her expression turned into one of worry quickly. "Minato-kun, are you feeling well? You just got really pale…" Fuuka remarked. Minato pulled out his cell phone to look at himself, and he took notice.

"_Okay… that one kind of snuck up on me…"_ At this point, he felt an uneasiness starting to brew in his stomach, amongst other symptoms that he was **not** feeling well.

"Ah… damn." He mused, the pounding feeling in his head not ceasing. "Listen, I hate to cut this short, but I'm going to go lie down in my room, if anyone asks…" Fuuka nodded, and she got up from her spot.

"Will you be okay on your own? Here, I'll help you." Getting up slowly, Minato linked arms with Fuuka as his other hand tried to massage his searing migraine. The two of them started walking away from the meeting room, and down the stairs.

The two managed to make it to the third floor before Minato gave a series a harsh, loud coughs that made Fuuka stop and worry.

"Minato-kun?" She asked. "Is everything okay?" She asked, off-put by the unhealthy sound of those coughs.

The blue-haired teen looked like he was quite ready to say something, but he didn't. He opened his mouth, but before he could say anything, more harsh coughs escaped his mouth. Covering it, he ran into the men's bathroom on the third floor of the dorm and closed the door behind him.

He ran into one of the stalls and threw up the toilet seat. He closed his eyes as he expelled dark bile from his mouth in horrendous sounding coughs and sputters. And yet despite that, Fuuka thought to herself that no one would hear him over their own arguing.

She sighed softly to herself as she heard Minato's sounds from the other side of the door. It would be awkward for her to go in there, but it would be even more awkward if she just stood there and did the equivalent of twiddling her thumbs.

She sighed and ran a hand through her teal hair. Now was not the time for this…

Closing her eyes and exhaling, Fuuka walked in to the bathroom and found Minato, keeled over one of the toilets and still making horrendous sounds.

She sighed softly as she knelt beside him, placing a hand on his back to gently massage him and she started to hum a few notes softly in an attempt to soothe him.

When he was done, Minato flushed the toilet twice without looking. It took a few moments for him to realize that Fuuka was there, but he seemed to be rather grateful for her presence.

"Fuuka…" He whispered. "What are you doing?"

"Whenever I was sick as a child, this was what my parents would do for me. I knew it helped me, so maybe it would help you." She told him, continuing to massage his back. He smiled and turned his head so he could look at the comforting look that Fuuka gave him.

It was so sad, really. His eyes were so dashing normally, but they looked so hurt and sad when they were bloodshot like they were now.

"Thank you, Fuuka." He mused quietly. "I appreciate this." She nodded and stopped her massage.

"I know- but we should get you to bed now." Minato gave a nod, as Fuuka did her best to lift him up. Despite being smaller than him, she had no real problem lifting up to stand and support him the best her stature could. They exited the bathroom and the two made their way to Minato's room.

"Will you be okay? Do you need me to get you anything?" She asked him. He shook his head and opened the door to his room, which he slunk into.

"No, you've done so much already. Thank you, and good night." He bowed to her before closing the door.

"G-good night!" She stammered out as the door shut.

* * *

He couldn't fall asleep, no matter how hard he tried.

"_Tch. This is what I get for trying to get to bed early."_ He shook his head as he looked around his room. He had tried to go to bed around 10:30, and it was now 2:15. The last time he woke up, it was 12:45, so he got an hour and a bit of sleep before he woke up- which was more than he could say for last time.

He brought himself up on his elbows to look at his bed. His pillows were strewn all over the place, as were his blankets, in an attempt to make himself comfortable- which was just not happening.

"_Funny. The one time I do try getting to bed early is the time I find it hardest to sleep."_ He flopped on the bed and sighed. _"What kind of ridiculous shenanigans is this?"_

He was distracted from his dilemma when he heard something he didn't expect to hear- a knock on his front door. He was curious to who it was, and who would be even up at this point in time. He got out of bed, dressed only in a pair of black shorts, and answered it.

It surprised him to see Fuuka on the other side, but it was a warm relief to see her. She was dressed in a tank top that matched her eyes and a pair of grey shorts. She looked surprised to see him answer the door, but happy at the same time.

"Sorry for knocking so late- did I wake you?" She asked, genuinely concerned. Minato blinked apathetically a few times and gestured her into his room.

"I've been awake off and on all night- please come in." Looking around to see no one was watching, she entered his room and he closed the door. He turned on a small light by his bedside and sat at one end of his bed. She sat at the other and blushed.

"T-this is your room, huh?" She asked. He nodded.

"I apologize if it wasn't what you were expecting- I really only use it for schoolwork and sleeping." She nodded at him, and she looked down.

"…Minato-kun, did you happen to eat the bento that was in the fridge earlier this evening, did you?" Her blush seemed to intensify, and Minato was, albeit slowly, able to put two and two together.

"…You didn't make that, did you?" Her blush deepened and Minato facepalmed. "Hey, don't take it the wrong way. All you need is some practice." He told her.

"I-I'm really sorry, Minato-kun." He shook his head and wore a small smirk.

"Don't worry about it so much." He tried his best to console her, but it didn't seem that it was working. "Maybe I caught a cold from school and I was hit pretty badly with it?" Fuuka giggled and sighed.

"I appreciate the effort, Minato-kun, but you don't have to do that for my sake." She smiled at him as he exhaled and laid down on his bed.

"Is that why you're down here?" He asked. She nodded.

"After you went to bed, I didn't hear any arguing, so I went downstairs. When no one was down there, I just figured that everyone had either gone out or went to their rooms, but I didn't know. I went to go get a glass of water from the tap, and I looked in the garbage and saw that the bento was in there…" Her frown re-emerged, and Minato sighed. He didn't like seeing her wearing a frown.

"Oh come on." He mused. "So you made one bad meal- it isn't the end of the world. Big deal- you can always get better." He told her, and she moved so that she was closer to him- now at his side on the bed.

"You mean it?" She asked. He nodded.

"Yeah, because how else am I gonna beat this cold I got?" Fuuka giggled again and laid down next to him.

"Thank you, Minato." She replied as she yawned. It **was** late, and while Minato had been up off and on in the night, trying to get to bed again didn't sound like a horrible idea.

"You're welcome, Fuuka." He looked to see that her teal eyes had closed and she had no intent of moving.

He smiled. He'd have to explain this in the morning, but tomorrow was a Sunday.

…Maybe they'd let him have this one. Just once.

* * *

When he awoke the next morning, it was to the sight of sun spilling in from his windows and the soft sound of Fuuka talking in her sleep. She had a hand on his chest, and she was mumbling something about "cooking for Minato". He smiled, and chose not to wake her.

It was probably one of the best mornings he had had since he moved out to Port Island. Which was saying something, because last night was one of the worst he had had.

He closed his eyes, instead choosing to put an arm around Fuuka's shoulders and fall back asleep.

* * *

**A/N: I tried my best to make Fuuka as cute as she could be, because her is adorable and she is as a character in Persona 3, and the makeover she got in Arena was a plus.**

With this, I believe that the MC Persona 3 pairings are done! And it only took a little over a year. Thanks for staying with me throughout them all, and all that is left is Persona 4 and Pokemon! See you guys then.


End file.
